Why I Love Going to the Movies Alone
Tuesday, Nov 7 2006

I love to go to the movies alone. And people always give me crap about it. But if people saw what I saw in it, they would probably be a more common presence at films! I’ve been trying to convert Lisa. Here are my reasons:

1) You don’t have to compromise with your friend or the group about which movie to see.

2) You can spontaneously pick up and go see a movie whenever the mood strikes.

3) If your first-choice film is sold out until late, you can do a double feature. (I did that this weekend with Borat and The Queen!)

4) You aren’t talking to the person next to you, anyway, and if you are, you’re probably annoying people around you.

5) I think romantic movies are better viewed alone.

6) It’s easier to find a seat when you go to see Brokeback Mountain at Hollywood Hits at 2:00 on a Monday afternoon and inadvertantly find yourself in the middle of Senior Citizen Movie Afternoon and there are only three empty seats and you find yourself yelling at an old man for giving one of the seats to his jacket….true story.

7) If it’s a funny and/or interactive film (most recently, like Borat, Jackass or Snakes on a Plane), there’s nothing like seeing everyone around you react. If you’re with someone, you miss out on that a little bit because you’re only focused on them.

8) If someone decided to bring their crying baby to a 10:00 PM showing of Step Up, you can yell a profanity-laced phrase without embarrassing your friends.

9) You won’t be embarrassed yourself when the sure-to-be-Oscar-nominated movie you dragged your current boyfriend to is filled with the sounds of his snoring.

10) This is one of the most significant things you can do for yourself in terms of independence. No matter how times change, going to the movies alone makes you a target. People look at you in pity. And you do need to have thick skin. You need to be free to laugh out loud by yourself, cry hard by yourself, be unafraid of your emotions. Because if you’re comfortable with yourself at its most emotional, vulnerable time — crying OR laughter — everyone else will see just how comfortable you are. And then, perhaps, the stigma against people who go to the movies alone will be on its way out.